Aquatic noise pollution: implications for individuals, populations, and ecosystems

Abstract

Anthropogenically driven environmental changes affect our planet at an unprecedented scale and are considered to be a key threat to biodiversity. According to the World Health Organization, anthropogenic noise is one of the most hazardous forms of anthropogenically driven environmental change and is recognized as a major global pollutant. However, crucial advances in the rapidly emerging research on noise pollution focus exclusively on single aspects of noise pollution, e.g. on behaviour, physiology, terrestrial ecosystems, or on certain taxa. Given that more than two-thirds of our planet is covered with water, there is a pressing need to get a holistic understanding of the effects of anthropogenic noise in aquatic ecosystems. We found experimental evidence for negative effects of anthropogenic noise on an individual's development, physiology, and/or behaviour in both invertebrates and vertebrates. We also found that species differ in their response to noise, and highlight the potential underlying mechanisms for these differences. Finally, we point out challenges in the study of aquatic noise pollution and provide directions for future research, which will enhance our understanding of this globally present pollutant.

Population‐level consequences of seismic surveys on fishes: An interdisciplinary challenge

“…Bruce et al., ; Cooke et al., ; Metcalfe, Wright, Tudorache, & Wilson, ). Furthermore, it is challenging to determine the long‐term impact on welfare or fitness from short‐term behavioural changes in response to anthropogenic noise; the challenge is even greater if there is a physiological response but no apparent change in behaviour (Kight & Swaddle, ; Kunc, McLaughlin, & Schmidt, ). Nevertheless, scientific and public awareness has increased over the last decades, across taxa, and concerns from fisheries, conservationists and policymakers have resulted in noise pollution to be integrated in environmental legislation in a growing part of the world (Farcas, Thompson, & Merchant, ; Popper et al., ; Southall et al., ; Weilgart, ; Willsteed, Gill, Birchenough, & Jude, ).…”

Environmental noise reduces predation rate in an aquatic invertebrate

“…While some research into the impacts of noise on animals has achieved a high profile, particularly research carried out on cetaceans (Weilgart 2007) and in urban birds (Slabbekoorn and Peet 2003), research is only just beginning to explore the wider impacts on ecosystems. Additionally, at an individual level, anthropogenic noise can have considerable anatomical, physiological, and behavioural impacts (Kight and Swaddle 2011;Kunc et al 2016). For example, exposure to road traffic noise reduced foraging and increased vigilance significantly in the prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus (Shannon et al 2014).…”

Sensory ecology of the fish lateral‐line system: Morphological and physiological adaptations for the perception of hydrodynamic stimuli

“…Acoustic noise affects fishes in a variety of ways, possibly to a much higher extent than what we are currently aware of, as the number of publications in this field is still considerably low. For example, acoustic communication between individuals may be disrupted, fish may leave certain regions or habitats to get away from sound sources and they can even be injured or killed by noise (Kunc et al ., ; Purser & Radford, ). Anthropogenic noise may also negatively affect foraging (Purser and Radford, ; Voellmy et al ., ), predator avoidance (Voellmy et al ., ; Simpson et al ., ) and parental care (Nedelec, ; Owens et al ., ).…”